Royal Creations Blog

Summer Time Weed Control 

After all the great rain we have gotten this spring, everything is growing in leaps and bounds.  Unfortunately, that includes the weeds.  If your pre-emergent control is failing, here are the ways Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping deals with weeds. 

Thriving Turf 

The best defense against weeds is to maintain a thriving lawn.  Most turfgrasses will crowd out weeds when they are healthy.   

• Pick an appropriate turf grass and plant the recommended variety.  The Kansas City area is in the transition area from warm season turfgrass like Bermuda and Buffalograss to cool season turfgrasses like Kentucky bluegrasses, perennial ryegrasses, tall fescues, and fine-leaf fescues.  Most lawns will be cool season turf and we typically use tall fescue for residential lawns unless there is deep shade where we may use bluegrass as an alternative. 
• Maintain the soil pH between 6-7 
• Mow, water, and fertilize properly 
• Control insect and disease damage 
• Control thatch 
• Aerate compacted soils 

Mechanical Control 

Set your lawn mower at the correct height for the species of grass you have.  Frequent weekly mowing will control many types of weeds because they never get tall enough to seed.  We recommend 3 ½” to 4” height on fescue lawns.  If you have a few weeds in your grass, you can pull them by hand.  It is harder to eradicate weeds with deep root systems by weeding by hand. 

Herbicides 

Sometimes the weeds are so bad you must use an herbicide to kill them.  Care should be taken when choosing a herbicide to make sure it will not only kill the weeds involved but won’t damage the turf grass you want.  For this, we use a selective herbicide.  If the lawn is badly infested with weeds, a broad herbicide that kills everything may be your only choice.  After the weeds are dead, you can de-thatch and reseed the lawn to start over.  Sometimes, this is necessary in areas where insects or disease has killed an area of your lawn and the weeds have taken over. 

Landscape Beds 

This time of year we are re-visiting our garden care clients at least once a month to help manage the weeds in their mulch and rock beds.  We will spray in areas where the weeds are heavy and there are not a lot of ornamental plants.  If it is planted more densely and the weeds are here and there we will pull them by and as often as possible. 

Help Is On The Way 

Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping is developing a comprehensive lawn care program to care for your turfgrass, eliminate weeds, treat disease and insect pests, and establish a thick, lush lawn.  Call our office at (816) 825-2524 to get on the lawn care subscription list, and we will contact you with the details soon.